Norway in Phase Two of Its Central Bank Digital Currency

• The central bank of Norway is now in phase two of its digital currency project.
• The financial institution has been on the project for the last four years.
• Previously, Nahmii said it won Norway’s Central Bank contract to develop the experimental Ethereum L2 sandbox for a future CBDC.

The central bank of Norway is now in phase two of its digital currency project, according to the official website of Norges Bank. Earlier in 2021, the financial institution said in a memo that it was in the investigation phase of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), checking what benefit it would add to the economy.

The report said:

The overall purpose of Norges Bank’s investigation is to assess whether [CBDC] is necessary to ensure that the payment system in Norwegian kroner is secure, efficient, and attractive for the Norwegian population.

The governor of the Norges Bank, Oysten Olsen, stated at a conference in November 2021 that “the implementation of a CBDC is a significant and challenging topic.” He added, “[Bitcoin is] far too resource-intensive, far too costly, and most importantly, it doesn’t preserve stability.”

On May 16, Nahmii said it won Norway’s Central Bank contract to develop the experimental Ethereum L2 sandbox for a future CBDC. Since the solution has been in development for four years, Nahmii has pledged to create, manage, and provide training for “Norges bank users and partners on the sandbox.”

Some of Norway’s European neighbors have followed suit in CBDC creation. France began its CBDC trials in January, while Sweden finished the second stage in February. However, the Netherlands has set the scene as early as 2020.

Consensys, the organization that created the well-known non-custodial wallet MetaMask, started four CBDC projects with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Bank of Thailand, Australian Reserve Bank, and Société Générale last year.